Configuring and Managing OpenVMS Booting on Integrity Servers

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HP OpenVMS Version 8.2-1 for Integrity Servers...

Setting Up the Console, Booting, and Shutting...

Booting Operations

Halt and Shutdown Procedures

Configuring and Managing OpenVMS Booting on Integrity Servers

This section explains how to configure and manage the booting behavior of your Integrity server. You can use the EFI Boot Manager (while the operating system is not running) or the OpenVMS I64 Boot Manager (while the operating system is running) to configure boot options. HP recommends using the latter.

You can configure multiple boot entries for a single operating system. On a cell-based Integrity server running multiple operating systems, you can configure boot options for all currently installed operating systems. On cell-based servers, each nPartition has a local instance of EFI that is specific to that partition. Each partition can be booted and stopped independently of other nPartitions in the system, and each partition executes its own operating system image.

On cell-based servers, to successfully boot an operating system you must first ensure that the ACPI configuration is correct for the operating system being booted, as explained in Checking the ACPI Configuration for Booting OpenVMS in an nPartition. Each nPartition has its own ACPI configuration value.

To configure booting on a Fibre Channel storage device, you must use the OpenVMS I64 Boot Manager utility. (For information about configuring Fibre Channel devices, refer to Setting Up and Booting Fibre Channel Storage Devices.) HP also recommends using this utility to add members of a multiple-member shadow set to the boot device list and dump device list. Be sure to add all members to both lists.

If you have just completed the initial setup of your Integrity server, perform the following steps before continuing:

Power up your server system, as explained in the hardware documentation for your server. If you use the power button on the front panel, press it only once.

If you see a warning that the BMC system event log (SEL) is full, you can safely continue by following the prompts; OpenVMS processes the contents of the SEL. If you want to clear the SEL manually, refer to the instructions in the first note of Booting Operations.

HP recommends that you load and use the most current system firmware. For more information about updating the system firmware, refer to Firmware on Integrity Server Systems.

If you have a cell-based server, check that the ACPI configuration is correct for the OpenVMS operating system. For more information, refer to Checking the ACPI Configuration for Booting OpenVMS in an nPartition.

At the EFI Boot Manager menu, select the EFI Shell [Built-in] option. You can now boot your OpenVMS I64 system manually, or you can add a new entry to the EFI Boot Manager menu to have your system booted automatically whenever you power on your Integrity server or reboot.

This section discusses the following topics:

Checking the ACPI configuration for nPartition booting ( Checking the ACPI Configuration for Booting OpenVMS in an nPartition)

Setting automatic booting and boot flags for your system disk ( Setting Boot Options for Your System Disk) (also includes how to set automatic booting using EFI commands)

Displaying EFI boot entries and mapped OpenVMS devices, using the OpenVMS I64 Boot Manager utility ( Displaying EFI Boot Entries and Mapped OpenVMS Devices) (also includes how to display boot entries using EFI commands)

Setting the EFI boot option timeout value, using the OpenVMS I64 Boot Manager utility ( Setting EFI Boot Option Countdown Timer (Timeout))

Writing a new boot block, using the OpenVMS I64 SET BOOTBLOCK command ( Writing a New Boot Block)

Comparing Alpha and Integrity server system boot commands ( Alpha and Equivalent Integrity Server System Boot Commands)

Checking the ACPI Configuration for Booting OpenVMS in an nPartition

To boot your OpenVMS I64 operating system on a cell-based server, the ACPI configuration must be set correctly. The ACPI configuration value determines, among other things, the EFI Path format used when referencing devices. If your Integrity server was factory installed, the ACPI configuration is set correctly. If the nPartition on which you want to boot your OpenVMS system had previously been running a Windows or Linux system, then enter the following command at the EFI Shell prompt to set the partition to boot correctly with OpenVMS:

EFI> acpiconfig default

To make this new value take effect, you must reset the nPartition by using the EFI Shell reset command:

  EFI> reset

If the ACPI configuration value is not set properly, the operating system cannot boot, and booting is interrupted with a panic.

You cannot modify the ACPI configuration value for Integrity servers that do not support nPartitions (for example, the rx2600 server).

To display the current configuration value, enter the acpiconfig command with no arguments:

   EFI> acpiconfig
   Acpiconfig settings: default

The acpiconfig command does not necessarily report the setting that was used on the current nPartition boot stage. It reports only the current setting, which is used for the next boot of the nPartition.

Setting Boot Options for Your System Disk

You can establish and manage boot options for your system disk in any of three ways:

During installation or upgrade, allowing the OpenVMS I64 installation/upgrade procedure to automatically establish an EFI boot option for your system disk

Using the OpenVMS I64 Boot Manager (BOOT_OPTIONS.COM) utility while the operating system is running

Using EFI (after the system disk has been created or updated and only while the operating system is not running)

HP recommends that you allow the OpenVMS I64 installation or upgrade procedure to establish a boot option for your system disk. However, you still have the option of modifying the boot option or adding other boot options for your system disk by using the OpenVMS I64 Boot Manager utility from the OpenVMS DCL prompt (or by using EFI itself).

The OpenVMS I64 Boot Manager (BOOT_OPTIONS.COM) utility is a menu-based utility that allows you to configure EFI boot options for your Integrity server. It is easier to use than EFI. With this OpenVMS utility, you can perform actions such as the following:

Add your system disk as an EFI boot option (you can optionally configure it to boot automatically on hardware startup and reboot).

Set boot flags.

Display the EFI boot options.

Add, move, and remove boot options in the EFI Boot Manager menu.

Enable or disable the EFI boot countdown timer (timeout) and set the countdown value.

This section explains how to perform most of these operations (except moving and removing boot options). For more information about the OpenVMS Boot Manager utility, refer to the HP OpenVMS System Manager's Manual, Volume 1: Essentials . This section also explains how to use EFI to add a boot option for automatic booting.

HP recommends that you configure your system with a boot option for your system disk. You can enable automatic reboot of the system disk by specifying your system disk as the first boot option in the EFI Boot Manager menu. When the EFI timeout (countdown) occurs (the default is 10 seconds), your system disk boots automatically.

To configure booting on Fibre Channel devices, you must use the OpenVMS I64 Boot Manager utility. (Use of this utility is optional for other devices but mandatory for Fibre Channel devices.) HP also recommends using this utility to add members of a multiple-member shadow set to the boot device list and dump device list. Be sure to add all members to both lists. For more information about the utility, refer to the HP OpenVMS System Manager's Manual, Volume 1: Essentials . For more information about configuring and booting Fibre Channel devices, refer to Setting Up and Booting Fibre Channel Storage Devices.

Adding a Boot Option and Setting Boot Flags

To add a boot option and set boot flags using the OpenVMS I64 Boot Manager utility, follow these steps:

At the DCL prompt, enter the following command to invoke the OpenVMS I64 Boot Manager utility:
```
   $ @SYS$MANAGER:BOOT_OPTIONS.COM
```

When the utility is invoked, the main menu is displayed. To add your system disk as a boot option, enter 1 at the prompt, as shown in the following example:

       OpenVMS I64 Boot Manager Boot Options List Management Utility
 
       (1) ADD an entry to the Boot Options list
       (2) DISPLAY the Boot Options list
       (3) REMOVE an entry from the Boot Options list
       (4) MOVE the position of an entry in the Boot Options list
       (5) VALIDATE boot options and fix them as necessary
       (6) Modify Boot Options TIMEOUT setting
 
       (B) Set to operate on the Boot Device Options list
       (D) Set to operate on the Dump Device Options list
       (G) Set to operate on the Debug Device Options list
 
       (E) EXIT from the Boot Manager utility
 
       You can also enter Ctrl-Y at any time to abort this utility
 
   Enter your choice: 1

While using this utility, you can change a response made to an earlier prompt by entering the caret (^) character as many times as needed. To abort and return to the DCL prompt, press Ctrl/Y.

The utility prompts you for the device name. Enter the system disk device you are using for this installation. In the following example, the device name is DKA0:.
```
   Enter the device name (enter "?" for a list of devices): DKA0:
```

The utility prompts you for the position you want your entry to take in the EFI boot option list. To see a list of the current boot options, enter a question mark (?):
```
   Enter the desired position number (1,2,3,,,) of the entry.
   To display the Boot Options list, enter "?" and press Return.
   Position [1]: ?
```

The list in the following example includes only one boot option. To add your boot option entry to the top of the list (the default) so that your system disk boots automatically when the server starts or the EFI countdown timer expires, enter 1:

   EFI Boot Options list:     Timeout = 0 secs.
   -----------------------------------------------------------------
   01. VenHw(d65a6b8c-71e5-4df0-d2f009a9) "EFI Shell [Built-in]"
   -----------------------------------------------------------------
   1 entries found.
 
   Enter the desired position number (1,2,3,...) of the entry.
   To display the Boot Options list, enter "?" and press Return.
   Position [1]: 1

The utility prompts you for OpenVMS boot flags. By default, no flags are set. Enter the OpenVMS flags (for example, 0,1), or press Enter to set no flags, as in the following example:

   Enter the value for VMS_FLAGS in the form n,n.
   VMS_FLAGS [NONE]:

Optionally, you can use any of the standard OpenVMS boot flags such as the following:

Flags Description

0,1
Enable SYSBOOT to change system parameters; enable conversational booting for debugging purposes.

0,2
Load XDELTA.

0,4
Take the initial EXEC_INIT breakpoint.

0,20000
Print debug messages on boot.

0,30000
Print more debug messages on boot.

The utility prompts you for a description to include with your boot option entry. By default, the device name is used as the description. You can enter more descriptive information as in the following example. This example shows a sample confirmation message (for devices with multiple paths, such as Fibre Channel devices, a separate confirmation message is displayed for each path). EFI$BCFG is the name of the executor file for the OpenVMS I64 Boot Manager utility.
```
   Enter a short description (do not include quotation marks).
   Description ["DKA0"]: DKA0: OpenVMS V8.2-1 for PLMs System
 
   efi$bcfg: DKA0: (BOOT003) Option successfully added
```

When you have successfully added your boot option, exit the utility by entering E at the prompt:
```
   Enter your choice: E
   $ 
```

Flags	Description
`0,1`	Enable SYSBOOT to change system parameters; enable conversational booting for debugging purposes.
`0,2`	Load XDELTA.
`0,4`	Take the initial EXEC_INIT breakpoint.
`0,20000`	Print debug messages on boot.
`0,30000`	Print more debug messages on boot.

Using EFI to Set Automatic Booting of Your System Disk HP recommends allowing the OpenVMS installation or upgrade procedure or the OpenVMS I64 Boot Manager (BOOT_OPTIONS.COM) utility to set your system disk to boot automatically. However, you can use EFI. This section explains how to use EFI to set up your Integrity server firmware to automatically boot your OpenVMS I64 system from your system disk. (HP also recommends using the OpenVMS I64 Boot Manager utility to set boot flags. Optionally, you can use the vms_loader.efi -flags n,n command at the EFI prompt to set any of the standard OpenVMS boot flags, as documented earlier in this appendix.)

Access the EFI Shell and type the following line at the prompt, where fsn: (such as fs0: or fs1:) is the device associated with the system disk:

   Shell> bcfg boot add 1 fsn:\efi\vms\vms_loader.efi "HP OpenVMS I64"

This command adds the OpenVMS I64 operating system to position 1 in the EFI Boot Manager menu. The quoted text in the command line ("HP OpenVMS I64") appears at position 1 in the EFI boot menu. You can enter any text that helps you identify the operating system disk. During system power up, the position 1 item is automatically executed after the default 10-second countdown.

Alternatively, you can add an EFI boot menu option by using the EFI menu interface:

Select the Boot Configuration option (or in some versions of EFI, the Boot Option Maintenance Menu).

Select Add a Boot Option.

Select the boot device and boot file.

All EFI boot options embed the disk Globally Unique ID (GUID). Therefore, if you reinstall OpenVMS or restore a system disk from an image backup, you must first delete the old boot options and then add a new boot option. To delete a boot option, use the Delete Boot Option(s) option in the Boot Configuration menu (or Boot Option Maintenance Menu).

Still another method to add a boot entry to the EFI Boot Manager menu is to use the EFI Utilities for OpenVMS (I64 only) vms_bcfg command, which accepts OpenVMS device names and also allows you to set flags. In the following example, DKA0: is the OpenVMS system disk being added as the first boot option:

   Shell> \efi\vms\vms_bcfg boot add 1 dka0: -fl 0,2 "HP OpenVMS I64"

For more information about EFI utilities for OpenVMS (I64 only), refer to the HP OpenVMS System Management Utilities Reference Manual .

Displaying EFI Boot Entries and Mapped OpenVMS Devices

The Integrity server EFI Boot Manager shows the various paths to the boot device. You can use the OpenVMS I64 Boot Manager (BOOT_OPTIONS.COM) utility to display the OpenVMS boot device options known to EFI.

Start the utility at the DCL prompt (@SYS$MANAGER:BOOT_OPTIONS.COM) and select option 2 from the main menu (the main menu is shown in Setting Boot Options for Your System Disk). The utility displays the following prompt. In this example, the listings for the DQA0: device are requested and displayed.

       To display all entries in the Boot Options list, press Return.
       To display specific entries, enter the entry number or device name.
       (Enter "?" for a list of devices):DQA0
 
    EFI Boot Options list:   Timeout = 20 secs.
    ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
    04. DQA0 PCI(0|0|2|0) ATA(Primary,Master) "DVD-ROM "
    ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
    1 entries found.

You can also display all bootable devices mapped by the EFI console and their equivalent OpenVMS device names by using the EFI Utilities for OpenVMS vms_show command at the EFI Shell prompt (from \efi\vms). For more information about EFI utilities for OpenVMS, refer to the HP OpenVMS System Management Utilities Reference Manual .

Setting EFI Boot Option Countdown Timer (Timeout)

Whenever the EFI Boot Manager menu displays, it waits for you to select an option. By default, it waits 10 seconds, after which EFI boots the first boot option. If the first option is not available or does not boot, EFI waits the same duration before booting the next option in the list. The OpenVMS I64 Boot Manager (BOOT_OPTIONS.COM) utility allows you to change the duration for this countdown value and also to disable the countdown (so that there is no wait) and enable it.

Select option 6 from the OpenVMS I64 Boot Options main menu (the main menu is shown in Setting Boot Options for Your System Disk). The utility displays the following prompt. To change the value, enter YES and then enter the new value. In this example, the timeout value is changed to 20 seconds.

    efi$bcfg: Boot Timeout period is 10 secs
    
    Would you like to modify the Timeout value? (Yes/No) [NO] YES
 
    Please enter the Timeout value in seconds: 20
 
     efi$bcfg: Boot Timeout period is 20 secs

To disable the timeout so that automatic booting occurs instantaneously, enter 0 as the value, as in the following example:


    Please enter the Timeout value in seconds: 0
 
      efi$bcfg: Boot Timeout is Disabled

Writing a New Boot Block

The boot block structures on the system disk contain the size and location of the boot partition and other details relevant to the bootstrap of OpenVMS I64. The size and location of the boot partition stored within the boot block structures must be maintained and must reference the current location of the OpenVMS file SYS$EFI.SYS.

Current versions of BACKUP maintain the boot block structures as well as the size and location of the boot partition during image operations (analogous to the similar BACKUP/IMAGE operations that maintain the boot block on OpenVMS Alpha disks). Older versions of BACKUP do not maintain these structures and do not correctly locate core OpenVMS I64 bootstrap files.

If the boot partition file SYS$EFI.SYS is manually replaced or relocated, you must use the DCL command SET BOOTBLOCK or the SYS$SETBOOT image to rewrite the boot block structures. The SET BOOTBLOCK command and SYS$SETBOOT are analogous to the OpenVMS Alpha Writeboot utility; they provide OpenVMS I64 with the equivalent of what the Writeboot utility provides on OpenVMS Alpha. (Do not use the OpenVMS Alpha Writeboot utility to rewrite boot block structures on an OpenVMS I64 system disk.)

The SET BOOTBLOCK command allows you to establish the boot block pointers necessary for the EFI console to find and bootstrap an OpenVMS I64 system disk. You must invoke this command if the target OpenVMS I64 system disk was originally created by one of the following methods:

A version of BACKUP that does not support the OpenVMS I64 system disk structure. HP recommends that you do not use these versions of BACKUP for archiving or restoring an OpenVMS I64 system disk.

A nonimage backup of an OpenVMS I64 system disk (possibly corrupting the boot block and various directory backlinks that must be manually reset). HP recommends that you do not use nonimage backups.

A nonimage restore of an OpenVMS I64 system disk from an image save set. HP recommends that you do not use a nonimage restoration.

If the target OpenVMS I64 system disk has an incorrectly-placed [000000]GPT.SYS file, the disk cannot be used reliably as an OpenVMS I64 system disk. Typically, the file gets incorrectly placed due to the use of an older version of BACKUP/IMAGE, a file-based BACKUP disk restoration, or an errant disk defragmentation tool (the file is set with /NOMOVE to disable move operations; defragmentation tools that do not honor this setting will corrupt the file). A correctly-located GPT.SYS file will have at least two file extents, the first beginning at LBN 0 and the last at the disk capacity minus the size of the last extent (an extent is one or more adjacent clusters allocated to a file). The size of each of the two extents varies according to the disk cluster factor on the target disk. The first extent size is currently 34 or more blocks, and the last extent 33 or more blocks. For example:

$  DUMP/HEADER/BLOCK=END=0 SYS$SYSDEVICE:[000000]GPT.SYS ...
Map area
   Retrieval pointers:
        Count:          36    LBN:          0
        Count:          36    LBN:   71132925

This example is from a disk with 71132960 blocks. The placement of the final extent is 71132924, which is calculated by subtracting 36 (the size of the last extent) from the disk capacity (71132960).

You may be able to temporarily recover from this condition and attempt to bootstrap the target OpenVMS I64 system disk by renaming GPT.SYS to GPT.BAD, and then issuing the SET BOOTBLOCK command. To correctly recover from this condition, you must INITIALIZE the target disk and then reload the disk contents using a file-based BACKUP restoration or a file-based COPY operation. No supported means exists for adding a GPT.SYS file onto an existing disk nor for adding the file during a BACKUP/IMAGE restoration operation.

To write the boot block structures onto an OpenVMS I64 system disk, enter the SET BOOTBLOCK command using the following format:

   $ SET BOOTBLOCK [/PRESERVE=SIGNATURES] [/I64] [boot-partition-name]

You can specify the file name for the boot partition (boot-partition-name). If you do not specify a file or device name, the command defaults to the following file for the boot partition:

SYS$SYSDEVICE:[VMS$COMMON.SYS$LDR]SYS$EFI.SYS

The command also assumes the current architecture. To specify OpenVMS I64, include /I64 in the command line.

Use the /PRESERVE=SIGNATURES qualifier to preserve the existing GUID disk signature value and the associated root aliases. Note that using the OpenVMS Backup utility creates a new disk signature when restoring a bootable disk image.

If you reset the boot block structures, you might need to remove any EFI boot aliases that reference the disk, and then add them back again. You can use the EFI alias command to remove and add aliases; HP recommends using the OpenVMS I64 Boot Manager (BOOT_OPTIONS.COM) utility to maintain EFI console boot aliases.

The boot partition file must be contiguous and movefile operations on the file must be disabled. If the file is not contiguous, use the DCL command COPY/CONTIGUOUS (or equivalent) to recreate a contiguous version of the file. To disable movefile operations, use the DCL command SET FILE/NOMOVE. This prevents bootstrap failures that could result from the normal and expected operations of disk defragmentation tools.

Alternatively, you can write a boot block by entering the following command:

   $ RUN SYS$SYSTEM:SYS$SETBOOT

The utility prompts you for the required input (in a way similar to the operation of the OpenVMS Alpha Writeboot utility).

Alpha and Equivalent Integrity Server System Boot Commands

The Extensible Firmware Interface (EFI) on Integrity servers performs most of the same functions that the SRM console does on Alpha processors. If you are familiar with the Alpha tool, use the following table to find EFI commands equivalent to the Alpha commands you commonly use on Alpha systems. Note that some of the commands listed might not be available on certain hardware systems.

Table 3 Alpha and Integrity Server EFI Command Equivalents
Task Alpha SRM command at P00> prompt Integrity Server EFI command at Shell prompt

Display help information
HELP
help

Display list and version of devices found on the most recently initialized system
SHOW CONFIGURATION or
SHOW VERSION
info fw

Display devices and controllers in the system, including bootable devices and mappings
SHOW DEVICE
map,
vms_show devices (from \efi\vms)¹

Display all system information
SHOW FRU
info all, or pci, or info io

Display memory information
SHOW MEMORY
info mem

Display volume information of the file system
SHOW DEV DKA0
vol fs0

Display hardware information about the CPU
SHOW CONFIGURATION
info cpu

Display power status
SHOW POWER
info all²

Set system dump disk
SET DUMP_DEV disk1,
disk2...
vms_set dump_dev disk1, disk2, ... (from \efi\vms)

Set boot flags
SET BOOT_OSFLAGS 0,0
set vms_flags "0,0"

Set boot behavior to automatic boot
SET AUTO_ACTION BOOT
bcfg boot add 1 fsx:\efi\vms\vms_loader.efi "I64"

Change the current boot option
SET AUTO_ACTION HALT
bcfg boot mv 1 2

**Table 3** **Alpha and Integrity Server EFI Command Equivalents**
Task	Alpha SRM command at P00> prompt	Integrity Server EFI command at Shell prompt
Display help information	HELP	`help`
Display list and version of devices found on the most recently initialized system	SHOW CONFIGURATION or SHOW VERSION	`info fw`
Display devices and controllers in the system, including bootable devices and mappings	SHOW DEVICE	`map`, `vms_show devices` (from \efi\vms)¹
Display all system information	SHOW FRU	`info all`, or `pci`, or `info io`
Display memory information	SHOW MEMORY	`info mem`
Display volume information of the file system	SHOW DEV DKA0	`vol fs0`
Display hardware information about the CPU	SHOW CONFIGURATION	`info cpu`
Display power status	SHOW POWER	`info all`²
Set system dump disk	SET DUMP_DEV disk1, disk2...	`vms_set dump_dev` disk1, disk2, ... (from \efi\vms)
Set boot flags	SET BOOT_OSFLAGS 0,0	`set vms_flags "0,0"`
Set boot behavior to automatic boot	SET AUTO_ACTION BOOT	`bcfg boot add 1 fsx:\efi\vms\vms_loader.efi "I64"`
Change the current boot option	SET AUTO_ACTION HALT	`bcfg boot mv 1 2`

Footnotes

1 Similar functionality is provided by the OpenVMS I64 Boot Manager utility (BOOT_OPTIONS.COM), invoked at the OpenVMS DCL prompt. Regarding the display of devices, BOOT_OPTIONS.COM displays only the boot entries and also a selected dump device for DOSD and a debug device; vms_show can display all devices mapped by the EFI console and their equivalent OpenVMS device names. The map command shows all devices currently mapped on the EFI Shell.

2 Best source of information about power status is the MP PS command.

( Number takes you back )

Booting Operations

Halt and Shutdown Procedures